The Shins is back with a brand new video for "Simple Song," the first single to be released from the indie rock band's upcoming fourth studio album, "Port of Morrow," The Shins' first album since "Wincing the Night Away" was released in 2007. Plenty has changed with The Shins in the five years, the Portland-via-New Mexico-based act, has essentially become the sole property of frontman James Mercer, who replaced the rest of the band with all new members, but it still sounds like the good old Shins.Mercer explained the song's meaning to Q magazine: "I wrote it on the living room floor of my apartment when my wife and I were newlyweds. This was when we were just starting our little domestic life together, about to have our first daughter. So it was kind of this song about my wife, our relationship and this whole new life we have ahead of us." The song is also about the journey that The Shins have taken since they started out in the mid-'90s in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
With that in mind, it's funny in a non-haha way that their video for "Simple Song," which announces their resurrection, begins with a fictional message about Mercer's death. The Daniels-directed video is a glossy, Wes Anderson-inspired journey into the fictional future of Mercer in old age as a not-so-beloved family man. Beginning with Mercer's death, the clip uncovers his tumultuous relationship with his three children (played by the other members of the band) as they tear through their house in search of the deed.
The video has a very 'Royal Tenenbaums' feel to it, right down to the down to the heavily wallpapered house and dysfunctional family. Familial battles and sibling strife is often the subject of hilarity, a subject The Shins capitalize on in this slightly disturbing, though oddly touching video. Shot in a home-video style, it touches on the hatred fueling the Mercer family, as they run-amuck in the house up for grabs, pulling dirty tricks as they fight for ownership. Father Mercer has the last laugh, though.
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